Category: EPA

Jenner & Block LLP
Allison A. Torrence

March 5, 2018

On Monday, March 5, 2018, EPA issued a report titled EPA Year in Review 2017-2018. The report contains an introductory letter from Administrator Pruitt, who states that he has been “hard at work enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda during [his] first year as EPA Administrator.” The report highlights accomplishments at EPA over the past year, with a focus on the roll back of regulations from the Obama Administration, such as the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the United States Rule. Administrator Pruitt stated that “[i]n year one, EPA finalized 22 deregulatory actions, saving Americans more than $1 billion in regulatory costs.”

According to the report, Administrator Scott Pruitt set forth a “back-to-basics agenda” with three objectives:

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Manko, Gold, Katcher, Fox, LLP
Jonathan E. Rinde and Zachary J. Koslap

March 1, 2018

MGKF Special Alert

On February 20, EPA requested comment on whether pollutant discharges from point sources that reach jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater may be subject to Clean Water Act (“CWA”) regulation.  Specifically, EPA seeks comment on whether EPA should consider clarification or revision of previous EPA statements regarding the Agency’s mandate to regulate discharges to surface waters via groundwater under the CWA.

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Jeryl L. Olson, Kay R. Bonza and Craig B. Simonsen

February 5, 2018

This article was originally published in Seyfarth Shaw Workplace Safety & Environmental Law Alert Blog

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a guidance document issued last week, U.S. EPA sets out to deliberately move environmental enforcement responsibilities back to the states. While this may, to local interests, represent a noble purpose, few states are manned and ready to take on additional responsibilities.

In yet another move providing relief to industry from federal enforcement, the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) last week issued an Interim Guidance on Enhancing Regional-State Planning and Communication on Compliance Assurance Work in Authorized States (January 22, 2018) (Guidance).

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Husch Blackwell LLP
Megan P. Caldwell

October 17, 2017

This week, United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive to end the Obama-era “sue and settle” practice of the agency. Under the existing practice, environmental and special interest groups sue EPA to try to force the agency to take certain actions, and the agency typically settles those lawsuits by entering into private settlement agreements and public consent decrees. Those settlements often lead to the promulgation of environmental regulations, what Pruitt calls “the results of collusion with outside groups” that, according to him, takes place behind closed doors and excludes intervenors, interested stakeholders, and affected states from the process. Pruitt wants to put a stop to the “sue and settle” tactic, and his two October 16, 2017 memoranda, entitled “Adhering to the Fundamental Principles of Due Process, Rule of Law, and Cooperative Federalism in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements” and “Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements,” work to do just that.

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Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young
Andrew Levine and Catherine Ward

July 25, 2017

The Trump administration’s proposed budget cut of approximately 25 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement budget ($129 million) is consistent with candidate Trump’s platform targeting the EPA for failing to appropriately favor crucial business interests against what he perceives as environmentalists hellbent on the dismantlement of the U.S. industrial base. Whether we are facing the cataclysmic disintegration of long-standing federal environmental programs, or logical budget cuts related to streamlining and modernizing an over-bulked EPA largely depends upon the vitriol of the media source reporting the news, but it is undeniable that cutting enforcement is a direct attack on the foundation of all environmental laws; the perception that a violator will be held accountable in some way.

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Phillips Lytle LLP
Myriah V. Jaworski

July 27, 2017

Despite condoning a 34 percent cut to his agency’s funding for fiscal year 2018, U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt this week announced a seemingly ambitious plan to expedite the federal Superfund process to address the roughly 1,300 sites listed on the National Priorities List. Characterizing these sites as “languishing,” Pruitt promised that the “days of talking are over,” and that EPA would take immediate action to accelerate cleanup efforts nationwide.

Specifically, on July 25, Pruitt and the U.S. EPA Superfund Task Force released their “Recommendations to Streamline and Improve the Superfund Program.” The Report detailed 42 recommendations organized into five goals, which Pruitt believes will have the effect of expediting the remedial process and promoting reuse of contaminated sites. The high-level goals identified are: (1) expediting cleanup and remediation; (2) re-invigorating responsible party cleanup and reuse; (3) encouraging private investment; (4) promoting redevelopment and community revitalization; and (5) encouraging partners and stakeholders.

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Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Will Gardner and Kimberly S. Lewis

July 6, 2017

On June 7, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum prohibiting the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the 94 U.S. attorney’s offices from entering into settlement agreements that provide for payment to a nongovernmental, third party that was not directly harmed by the conduct at issue. Settlement payments to third-party, non-governmental organizations (“NGO”) became commonplace during the Obama administration, with millions of dollars in settlement payments going to NGOs.

Third-party payments were used in a number of the Obama administration’s most high-profile settlements, including, the BP plea agreement regarding Deep Water Horizon ($350 million to the National Academy of Sciences), the mortgage lending settlements with JP Morgan, Citi and Bank of America (millions of dollars to NeighborWorks America and others), and the settlement with Volkswagen regarding vehicle emission testing ($2 billion in settlement payments for investment in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, such as electric charging stations, to benefit both the public and various NGOs).

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